The previous season had been set up as the most competitive in recent memory and by and large it delivered on the hype, producing three genuinely exciting and stylistically different teams in the form of Made In Germany, The Last Resort and Awsomniacs. Alas, all three teams would find the sand running out of their hourglasses around the time ETF2L scribes were consigning Season 17 to the history books.

Three weeks ago my interest in Premiership 6v6 action was probably at an all-time low; the spectre of a new Epsilon superteam intent on using Season 18 as a punching bag to prepare themselves for the ethereal Insomnia 52 loomed large in the crystal balls of the scene’s soothsayers.

Recent events have changed my outlook, but I’ll save the full story of the genesis of our eight recently confirmed Premiership combatants for Hildreth to tell in his recent article. Just know that there was a time of darkness when it seemed all was lost, but a shining beacon has since pierced the inky black despair -- a forehead of dazzling brilliance has returned to play, cast and write about top level Team Fortress 2 in Europe.

The weekly preview format has always been a godsend because you can just get some other chumps to write half the article for you with predictions... and yet in saying that I can’t remember a season where I actually finished writing any series of coverage articles. Oh dear. In my preparation I revisited the exceptional efforts of Ally from this time last year, intent on stealing his idea of mystery predictors only to realise he had written so much more than I ever intended. News? Results? Division 1? What a jerk!

So in acknowledgment of my own shortcomings, I am proud to present you a brief look at the Premiership fixtures bearing down upon us this very day. What with Week 1 already being four days old and the preview being the most time sensitive of articles I recognise that brevity is the key. Onward and upward! Edit: Fuck this for a game of cards, I've already missed one game!

The ETF2L admins have decided to kick things off with Granary and Gullywash; perhaps wise that Granary doesn’t feature in two consecutive weeks as it seems to draw such ire from the community in the inevitable map discussions that sprout forth from the league forums in fungal fashion. However, Premiership teams should be more than capable of navigating those boredom-inducing choke points that leave lesser mortals rooted to the ground.

Although I do enjoy the acquired taste of Granary, it figures that the open arenas of Gullywash, home of the heartbreaker round, should prove much more palatable for players and spectators alike. Expect to see timely pyro heroics on last defences against seemingly insurmountable odds, snipers capitalising on the bravery of foolhardy medics and the elusive backcap to feature heavily.

Two hooded Premiership players are waiting in the wings, loaded to the hilt with insight, predictions and trash talk. Although before you go wagering that $400 unusual on the ramblings of our mystery predictors you might want to make up your own mind as to what may unfold this week with the help of fraac’s excellent weekly logs summaries for the entirety of ETF2L. The sexy Scot even gave me a sneak peak of the last seven days of Premiership practise logs from which we should deduce that rockit will finish last. Cmon guys. PCW results don’t mean anything! Ahem.

Hard work and heart versus highlander and Hildreth

Huge credit to Dikker and Death for keeping this 4-25 side together through various roster crises from the start of Season 17 to the present day. This fixture should be the easiest of a season where they will be out to cause upsets. They are technically the team who played the most games to make it in to this Premier Division and seem to be taking their practise regime very seriously.

Standing in their way, Lazy Pandas have been able to dander in and take a seat at the big table due to the lack of willing teams and/or pre-season playoffs. Unfortunate for them that their two best players, zoob and Hildreth, are tethered to a very inexperienced medic. Two maps for mother Russia or I’ll cut off my dick... again.

4-25
*Dikker*	*Shyyou*	*Death*	*sid vicious*	*kensi.*	*lippy*
*Stevepander*	*zoob*	*Hildreth*	*Lazybear*	*tracker*	*Muuki*
Lazy Pandas

Scheduled for 21:15CEST on Wednesday 14th May with coverage from TFTV.

Mystery Predictor #1:

I really want Lazy Pandas to win, especially as they have a very good set of core players with zoob and Hildreth (cruelly looked over for the Epsilon spot), however 4-25 have been around for longer and have good players that have the ability to perform at the top once they get some consistency. Kenzi will rape, Steve the pyro will go pyro.

I'd have to say the game will go in 4-25's way 6-1 Granary 5-2 Gullywash.

If Lazy Pandas win I will be very happy. I want those bunch of rascals to do well, as it will go to show that you can find talent in public servers!

Mystery Predictor #2:

4-25 will roll the first map, while the second will be oddly close in scoreline. I wouldn't call it a close game, but 4-25 will do their best to throw one map. 5-0 4-3 to the Russians.

The first step on the road to supremecy

As the unsightly yet strangely arousing cheerleader for competitive play here in Europe, the start of every season usually sees me trying to oversell the possibility of Epsilon being defeated -- to keep things interesting. I don’t need my ill-fitting leotard or moth-eaten pompoms this time around, all you have to do is look at the team sheet to realise this isn’t the best roster ever endorsed by Slick. Are they still better than everyone else? Absolutely, but it sure is fun to sling muck...

GGWP.pro have refined and distilled the spirit of Russian TF2 to a strong level of potency that might even score them a few rounds in this, the first game of their season, but any curveballs they throw will soon be factored in Epsilon’s game plan after the first few rounds. If the Russians can keep something in the tank for the last 15 minutes they might have a chance at an upset.

Epsilon eSports by Fragnet Networks
*Raymon*	*KnOxXx*	*HYS*	*Kiler4fun*	*basH.*	*Mike*
*Whiteglow*	*Forsak3n*	*gdk*	*atomic-*	*msh*	*ShaDowBurn*
GGWP.pro

Scheduled for 21:15CEST on Thursday 15th May with coverage from TFTV.

Mystery Predictor #1

This is a rather hard fixture to predict, GGWP recently beat Epsilon Esports in a PCW, even though it is just a PCW, officials have more on the line, they can create a lot of emotions, tensions etc. that are not present in a PCW, will Epsilon crumble or fight back if they fall behind? Who knows, the real question is will they fall behind to begin with.

GGWP Have had a few roster issues, with wg questioning his commitment to the game again. msh is still trying as hard as he can to dethrone HYS as the biggest bellend in TF2 which resulted in him being kicked then promptly unkicked once GGWP realised there isn't any other scouts to replace him with.

I think the game will go 6-3 To Epsilon on granary and 4-5 to GGWP on Gullywash.

Mystery Predictor #2:

So far GGWP are the only team to take a PCW victory from Epsilon. There's almost no chance of them repeating that feat, but this game has the potential to go the distance. Expect GGWP to take a sneaky lead only to have their hearts broken, and then repeatedly smashed into oblivion. 7-2 5-2 to Epsilon.

Confidence builder for the dark fox of the season

I think Fenneks have started off the season in great shape simply by virtue of avoiding both relegation and folding, unlike the entirety of their Season 17 classmates. The acquisition of two very experienced competitors in the guise of wltrs and ryb should put skeej’s mind at ease and allow him to share the mental load that I think has burdened him in past seasons.

Saints on the other hand arrive in to the Promised Land of the Premiership looking like the cat that got the cream. Both inside and outside Castle Prem people seem to be questioning why they are here, but I don’t imagine that bothers these Swedes in the slightest. Personally, I have yet to form a considered opinion on how they might fair this season. I look forward to seeing the progress of rag! and alba, but this is more than likely a game too soon for them.

Fenneks eSports by SimRai.com
*skeej*	*KLar*	*ryb*	*wltrs*	*gf18_idiot*	*KillAri*
*ondkaja*	*rag!*	*Smirre*	*alba*	*Dennia*	*cAPS*
Saints

Scheduled for 21:15CEST on Thursday 15th May with coverage from VanillaTV.

Mystery Predictor #1

lol saints

5-0 5-0 Fenneks

Mystery Predictor #2:

Easy win for Fenneks but Saints have it in them to grab a round or two. 6-1 6-1 to Fenneks.

The first step on the road to second place

The first ten maps of practise play have yet to produce a win for rockit, the team originally created to plug a hole in the dilapidated division before congealing into a lumpy mixture of superstars, fossils and rookies. Still waiting to be ignited by the spark that fans are hoping for, they have yet to show anything that would give them claim to any points in this game.

BFF are looking formidable on all fronts. The much-maligned Knutsson has started to find form continuing on from the latter half of his comeback season with Dotter earlier in the year. It is difficult to take issue with any individual players, but the question of whether they are a team of true contenders won’t be answered until they play Epsilon in Week 7 -- barring any slip ups along the way.

rockit
*Admirable*	*hocz*	*WARHURYEAH*	*cookye*	*smzi*	*qnx*
*Mirelin*	*Zebbosai*	*kaidus*	*Stark*	*fl1p*	*Knutsson*
BFF

Wildcarded by rockit. Schedule to be confirmed.

Mystery Predictor #1

With rockit performing admirably in PCWs with a current 10 game losing streak, will the self-titled saviours of prem actually do well, or will they just disappoint the cookye fan boys by getting shat on? PCW results have shown that they can lose more rounds than they win. BFF have had a strong performance recently, however with the ever unreliable Knutsson it will be interesting to see how they perform. rockit have the ever unreliable players such as hocz, WARHURYEAH and Admirable, so that's 3 unreliable players vs. the 1 of BFF...

8-4 to BFF on granary and 15-10 to BFF on Gullywash.

Mystery Predictor #2:

It's going to be a few more weeks till we see what this rockit team is all about, but based on their turbulent first week of PCWs it would be nothing short of a huge upset if they took any points anyway from this match. 6-1 4-1 to BFF.

Jesus, do I really have to do this every week? What the fuck was I thinking.